Weekly Watchlist 018 - October 13 2024

 Welcome back wrestling fans!

Didn't get to watch nearly as much wrestling this week as I normally do, despite having a long weekend. I had a date night Saturday so I had to catch up on Wrestledream sunday morning and a 4 hour show before I needed to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner that night threw my whole day out the window. Oh well! 

Weekly Roundup

Recently I've noticed I've been adding more to the start of my blog such as including quick reviews of shows from the week. I've thought about adding in little stories or stuff from the week of wrestling that I wanted to give some time to but didn't know how I'd go about doing that. I realized a little roundup of things that don't fit into a weekly review is the perfect addition to the blog. I may not include a roundup each week, but its at least available to me if I want to use it.

 Here's what I did get to watch this week;

 

Wrestledream

What a damn good show this was. The 4 hour running time nearly had me fall out of my chair but every match delivered and I wasn't disappointed by anything on this card. 

Hangman and Jay White opened the show in a really exciting and well thought out match. Hangman leaning into his heelish side, despite not doing anything wrong, is always fun to see. Jay trying to outsmart Hangman with not letting him get the Buckshot over and over again and just pissing Hangers off was so good. These two worked great together again. 

Mariah May and Willow had a fun little match here. I was a bit hesitant to get too excited for Mariah as world champ, not that I don't like her work, but I hadn't really pictured her as world champion material. She more than held her own here against Willow who will always be over with the fans, and just keeps getting better and more well rounded each match she has. Excited to see more from both, especially Mariah once Toni is back.

Jack Perry and Shibata had a really good matchup that is honestly kinda nuts to me. I mean lets think about some of the people Perry has recently gone up against. Minoru Suzuki, Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and now Shibata?! What sort of alternate universe is this where fuckin Jungle Boy is wrestling names like those?! Crazy. Both guys held their own with Shibata eating Perry's best and laying into him with his best. Solid match.

Ospreay, Ricochet and Takeshita had, to the surprise of none, an insane match. Ospreay continues to define an entirely new style of wrestling with every match he has, Ricochet is back in top form after toiling away in WWE with no direction or freedom to do as he pleases, and Takeshita shines like the star he is. Seriously, when you've got a guy as big as Takeshita and you can move like he can, while also believably hitting guys with the stiffest shit possible, you've got a guy you can build a division around. Unreal match. 

Mortos and Hologram! What a treat this match was, and on the main card too! Mortos has been an internet darling for the past few weeks now and Hologram is wowing audiences each week. If this guy is TK's pet project like everyone is saying, Tony picked a good one. You can audibly hear these guys calling spots in spanish during the entire match which makes no difference to me as I can't understand a lick of it, but I can see how this would bother some fans. Especially those that hablar español.

The Bucks and Private Party was alright. I mean I'm kinda getting sick of Bucks matches at this point, the whole EVP gimmick isn't any different from what they were doing a year ago, and Private Party came into this with the most fabricated heat possible. No pop, nothing at the start. The crowd got really into this as it went on but I didn't really care for any of it, I'm sorry to say. I'm all for other teams getting a shot at gold, but maybe giving the crowd more of a chance to get behind them before putting them on a PPV would be a better idea. 

Briscoe and Jericho was... good! Shockingly! I mean, not shocking that Mark Briscoe had a good match, that's pretty par for the course. But 2024 Jericho, a man who has more "go away" heat with me than any wrestler alive, having a match I actually enjoyed watching?! Something has gotta be wrong with me. There was some good emotion and drama in this with Jericho using the passing of Jay to get under the skin of Mark and Mark showed great fire as he did everything but kill Jericho to get back at him. Good stuff.

Danielson and Mox... wow. What a match, man. I still can't believe it's over.  I was a bit nervous it was going to happen going into the show and was hoping they'd give the Danielson retirement rub to someone like Darby, Cassidy or even Yuta, but alas, Mox killed him instead. They could have done with blood in this one but the lack of colour didn't take anything away from this one. Both fought like absolute hell in this one. Danielson to survive, Mox out of desire. So, so good.

 

“I will burn down the forest to plant a new one.”

Get out of the way. AEW

 "Someone has to be responsible when things get out of control"

AEW aired a video package on Dynamite following Moxley’s victory over Danielson and it serves as both a mission statement and a grim warning. It’s also one of the best things Mox has done in his entire career. Hard stop. He talks about how somebody needs to step up when things get out of hand, that there’s an entire roster of people that could have whatever they want, but they choose to be lazy. If nobody else will take charge, then he will take on that responsibility.

 "I hate what AEW has become."

Wrestling gave him everything, and he wants the same for everyone else. But nobody else acts like they want it. Too many people are just happy to be there, have no problem sitting in catering and waiting for opportunity to come to them. Something needs to be done.

“I will burn down the forest to plant a new one,” he says, “I’m not sentimental.” 

Mox is putting himself in the position of not only fixing AEW, but changing it. By force. Now that he’s on top, the rest of the roster will need to work double time to try and even sniff his spot, let alone take it. Mox isn't trying to hold anything from anyone, he's not trying to gatekeep. He's making everyone around him wake up and realize that its either sink or swim. He's the megalodon circling the ocean.  

"If you want to come with us, you can come with us. If you don't? Run while you can."

You get the sense this isn’t something he wants to do, but something he feels he needs to do, or else AEW will crumble around him, and he doesn’t want to be left alone picking up the pieces. This is the only way forward, every other option has been exhausted. If the locker room isn't going to step up on their own, he'll make them step up.

“What’s the need to know? What is the new paradigm? It's very simple. You work for me now.”

In a word: Incredible. Do yourself a favour and watch the promo in its entirety. I’ll never be able to describe it well enough to get the point across.  

Mox is back on the throne, and is ready to start taking heads. 

Long live the King.
 

Brody King vs. Darby Allin - AEW Wrestledream - 10/12/2024

 

Violence. The war has begun. AEW

No, I didn't forget to talk about this match in my roundup, because I wanted to review it on its own for the watchlist! I was excited for this one going into the show, remembering their previous encounters and just knowing the relationship these 2 sick bastards have with each other, I knew this would be fun. And by god, was this shit fun!

Commentary makes sure to point out that the only win Darby has gotten over Brody was in a coffin match, meaning his win was not a pinfall victory. The only way Darby can hope to be the victor tonight is if he can force Brody to submit, or keep him down long enough for a 3 count.

Brody takes charge immediate, charging at Darby as he climbs out the corner but gets ducked and met with chops, but they do absolutely nothing to the behemoth. Brody sends Darby over the top rope to the outside, rolling out after him and picking him up by his waistband with one hand, tossing him into the barricade. No love lost between these two, clearly.

Just like how I toss my garbage when I've had a particularly bad day. AEW

 Brody pulls the steps away from the ring preparing to use them but Darby jumps from the apron onto his back, looking for an early sleeper, but gets slammed into the barricade and sent back inside. Brody turns to the crowd and bellows, proud of his work so far. As he turns back around, Darby is in the air and flying at King, but gets stopped again. Brody struggles to move him onto his shoulders and Darby squirms off, only on his feet long enough to get his chest caved in with a single chop.

Brody sends Darby into the steps but he's able to dive over them, rolling through the landing and turning on a dime, charging up the steps and flying into a vicious forearm from Brody. Darby has tried time and time again in the first few minutes of this match to mount any sort of offence on King, but gets squashed with ease every time. 

With Darby still groggy from the forearm shot, Brody places the edge of the steps on the midsection of Darby and starts to climb, the weight of the steel steps magnified by the colossal frame of King. When he reaches the top, he stomps repeatedly, trying to turn Darby into a human tube of toothpaste. 

A picture tells a thousand words. Many of them being "this hurts." AEW

Back in the ring, Brody puncuates his offence with a senton and a pin attempt, but only gets 2. Darby crawls to the corner as King stalks him, lacing his chest with a disgusting chop that echoed through the arena. King shoves Darby into another corner and chops him again, dropping to his stomach as the referee slides in to check on him. Darby waves off the ref with a single finger as if to say "I'm good, just need a minute here."

He pulls himself to the oppotite corner only for Brody to biel Darby clean across the ring. The momentum sends Darby all the way up to his feet again and, unfortunately, Brody charges in and sandwiches him against the corner. Placing Darby upside down in the corner now, King marches around the ring, barking as the crowd barks back, calling for his signature cannonball. He readies himself and takes off, flipping just as Darby pulls himself up to the top rope, letting Brody eat the turnbuckles back first. 

With no time to waste and a body that barely wants to move, Darby hits the ropes and flies at King, now standing on the outside. The first dive stuns Brody, the second dive takes him out, and the top rope Coffin Drop keeps him down. The pain in his midsection makes him work harder to get up from the Coffin Drop but he's able to get back in the ring on his own and let Brody fight to beat the 10 count.

Look out below! AEW

In a role reversal from the Royal Rampage from a few years ago, Brody finds himself on the apron with Darby on the ropes, sinching a sleeper in tight as Brody starts to panic. He's able to get Darby over the top rope with him still on his back, turning as he does so and falling backwards, drilling Darby into the apron to break the hold.  An "oh shit!" can be heard by Darby, realizing just how bad this is about to hurt. 

Back to centre as King looms over Darby, bellowing at him to get up. When Darby is vertical, his efforts are rewarded with a rib shattering chop. Darby hits the canvas like a dummy at a shooting range, but he's able to stick one arm in the air, clawing at nothing in sheer defiance of the pain. He fights back to his feet again, screaming as he rises only to get chopped back down again. 

Darby fights back up, this time cracking Brody with a slap across the jaw. He ducks a third chop attempt and starts lighting King up with more slaps to the face, punctuating with a headbutt to stun the big man. He takes off for the ropes and springboards back with a Coffin Drop but gets caught in another sleeper, with Darby going for the eyes of King as he stumbles forwards to the ropes to break the hold. Brody allows the hold to be broken only to come back with a chop across the shoulder blades, hoisting Darby up by the waist and sending him across the ring with a massive german suplex. 

With Darby out on the apron near the corner, Brody stands on the second rope, looking like he's about to pick Darby up with a hanging sleeper but has him by the waist instead. With unreal strength, Brody rips Darby up and sends him crashing into the ring with a second rope german suplex. Fucking nasty landing. Going for the trifecta, Brody positions Darby on the top turnbuckle and climbs with him, taking him up and over with a huge top rope suplex. 

Darby is about to get sent through the damn ring. AEW

Brody and Darby find themselves on the apron at the corner nearest the ring steps, now standing on their side. Brody takes a minute to assess his surroundings when his eyes suddenly light up. Wasting no time, he climbs toe turnbuckle, back facing the steps. Darby is barely standing as Brody grabs him in preparation for a superplex, but Darby fights out, headbutting his way out as King is now perched on the middle turnbuckle. Darby gives his adversary a coy wave goodbye before shoving him off the post with all his might/ The mighty beast tumbles backwards and lands on the steps with a disgusting thud. Darby wastes no time and climbs to the top himself, flying backwards with a Coffin Drop onto Brody on the steps! Shit!

Brody rolls off the steps as Darby climbs back in the ring, ascending the corner as he watches his foe struggle to his feet and stumble to the apron as the referee is about to count 10. Sliding in at the last second, he struggles to prop himself on his hands and knees as Darby flies again with a Coffin Drop, crashing through King as he pulls his carcass over for the pin, finally getting a pinfall victory against his greatest adversary.

Taking advantage! AEW

 

This match was so damn fun, man. It's no secret that the David vs. Goliath formula works for me almost every time and these two are tailor made for each other. Darby is basically a breathing crash test dummy and Brody is a force of nature. Not to mention the fact that, from everything I've seen, these two are really good friends outside of wrestling, so I'm certain they had the time of their lives in this match. Lets keep these big man/little man matches coming. Giving Darby a win over someone like King helps to put him over better too, given what we saw at the end of Wrestledream. We're probably gonna see world champion Darby before the end of 2025.

The WorkHorsemen vs. Double Kevin - DPW Beast Coast - 08/13/2023

 

Time to go to work. DPW

As I continue my way through the DPW catalogue, I find myself at the "Beast Coast" show and closing in on a year of shows left before I catch up. I've still got a good ways to go(I've got a checklist of everything left and its scaring me) but I get more excited each time because the shows, somehow, just keep getting better. It really feels like they've got a fleshed out roster of guys and everyone there is on their absolute A game, Which isn't to say that there were some guys and gals phoning it in, just that they've really cultivated a locker room of people who truly want it. Its evident each and every time the bell rings.

The WorkHorsemen, consisting of JD Drake and Anthony Henry, took the DPW tag titles off Violence is Forever (spoilers, sorry) in the Tag Festival elimination match. Its a victory that felt like its been coming for a while, but when you've got a team as over and as good as ViF, you can't rush taking the titles off them. Threading the story of "will they lose their titles tonight?" through the entire tag festival was a nice touch and the perfect way for them to lose while saving face. Drake and Henry have fantastic chemistry as a team, and have a real FTR vibe about them (don't remind me about Super Battle. I'm still upset.)

The thrown together team of Double Kevin, featuring Kevin Blackwood and Kevin Knight, who was featured a few posts ago in an exceptional match against Myron Reed and Calvin Tankman, are challenging the champs in their first defence tonight. Thrown together teams don't always have the best success against established teams, but when the talent pool is this rich and deep, anything can happen. 

The WorkHorsemen come to the ring and are showered with "Horse Shit" chants, firmly establishing themselves as heels after destroying ViF in their steel cage match a few months ago. They get in the ring and "cheers" each other with their titles, making the most satisfying *clink* sound you'll ever hear. It's the little things.

Henry and Blackwood start the match off with some tight, tight grappling. You could convince me Henry has a legitimate BJJ background with the way he works his matches, dude's a fucking stud. Blackwood is no slouch either, mind you, but I've seen more of one than the other. 

The striking exchange starts early, with Henry pulling Blackwood up from the canvas when he goes for the "drop down" portion of a "drop down, leapfrog," railing him with a heavy handed chop. Blackwood stops Henry's rebound off the ropes with a stiff kick that drops the champ, but he's back on his feet quickly, meeting Blackwood in the middle to exchange strikes.

Blackwood gets the better of him however, crushing him with a double stomp that sends Henry rolling to his corner, tagging in the "Blue Collar Badass" JD Drake who tries to get the better of Blackwood, who tags in Knight for the assist. It's a two on one now as they kick Drake over and over, with Knight dropkicking Drake high while Blackwood kneels down low behind him, falling over like a great redwood. Knight uses Blackwood to get some extra height on a splash, going for a cover but opting to break so he could fake out Henry and let him fly over the top rope to the outside.

Blackwood is back in the ring now as the pair whip Drake into the corner, with Blackwood catching him in the jaw with a running boot. Working together again, they position Drake on the top as Blackwood gets ready to whip Knight in for some tandem offence. Kevin shoots Kevin off and Knight leaps to the top rope, steadying himself for a second too long as Henry gets back in and shoves Knight off the top and down to the floor, crashing hard against the rail. Blackwood and Henry fight for ground, getting further and further away from Drake's corner until finally, Henry shoves Blackwood out to no mans land and gets caught with a huge leg lariat from Drake. 

A crushing lariat from the crushing Drake. DPW

Henry is tagged back in and begins the punishment on Blackwood, taking him down with simple snapmares that open his back up for spine-shattering kicks. Blackwood is reeling, Henry is smiling. The duality of man. The WorkHorsemen catch Blackwood with tandem offence as he gets backed into their corner. Henry jumps in with a forearm as Drake tags in, shifting down the apron to catch Blackwood with a lariat once Henry shoots him out from the corner. Now down beside the ropes, Henry uses his feet to twist the neck of Blackwood violently as he climbs out the ropes. At the same time, the mammoth Drake pulls himself up and over the top rope, crashing down on Blackwood with a senton.

Blackwood is getting beaten on severely by Drake and Henry, who gets tagged in as Blackwood starts to crawl for his corner. Henry charges but gets tossed through the ropes, flying to the outside as Blackwood stumbles to his corner, inching closer to Knight. Drake grabs him by the tights and sends him up for a back suplex but Blackwood flips out, landing on his feet and ducking a chop, diving at Knight for the tag!

But Henry is too quick! He yanks Knight down off the apron, leaving Blackwood to land with a splat in his corner, finding his corner empty. Henry climbs to the Kevin corner and mocks Blackwood, goading him into tagging Henry in instead! Blackood swings but misses, getting crushed by Drake as he splashes him in the corner. Stumbling out from the corner, Drake hoists Blackwood up for the start of a back suplex, but Henry runs in to meet his opponent halfway in the air, catching his legs and drilling him with a running powerbomb for a close 2 count. 

Its this kind of wrestling that really gets me going. DPW

With Drake back in, he leathers Blackwood with chops as he tries to crawl to safety. Blackwood starts to fight out, attempting to get Drake on his shoulders but his body gives out and they both drop to the ring. It's at this point in the match where there's a bit of miscommunication or, at the very least, some confusion. Drake is down in his corner  with Blackwood down in front of him. Now, what would be smart is if Drake grabbed him by the boot and held him while he made the tag, but he opted to let Henry in. Ok, not all that bad, considering how fast Henry got in the ring and on top of Blackwood. It's what happened next that really kinda got me worked up. 

Henry grabs Blackwood by the waist as he fingertips away from his corner, almost escaping the grip. Instead of continuing forward, Blackwood turns to face Henry who just... shoves Blackwood into his corner to make the tag. What I feel like they were trying to go for was for Henry to grab Blackwood, have him slip the grip and tag in Knight, but Blackwood turned to try and fend Henry off and he had to think on his feet. A minor flub, but I can let it slide. 

Knight is in and he fucking flies, crashing into Drake with a lariat that drops him with ease. Henry tried to take Knight down but he's too quick, able to drop him with another flying lariat out of the corner. A splash to each guy as they stand propped in the corner, with a double splash after he ducks out the way of a charging JD Drake. Henry stumbles out the corner and gets caught by Knight, who delivers a *beautiful* sit out powerbomb for a paper thin 2 count. 

The speed! The snap! Incredible. DPW

Drake and Henry are back up together, and they shoot off Knight for a double clothesline but he jumps over their fucking arms and catches them both with a pele kick after the landing. Blackwood crawls back in the ring and gets Henry up on his shoulders, with Knight jumping up and dropkicking Henry clean off his partners shoulders. Knight is completely bonkers, I love this guy. 

Drake is back on his feet and fighting like Godzilla now, cracking Blackwood with a forearm to send him off the apron and taking off Knight's head with a lariat as he pulls his stunned partner to their corner to make the tag. They try for another double team move but Drake gets knocked on his ass and Henry to the apron, with Knight hitting the ropes and sunset flipping over Henry to try and powerbomb him on the floor! Henry holds on and is able to double stomp Knight on. He takes too long to recover however, turning to get back in the ring and coming face-to-foot with Blackwood, stomping him off the top turnbuckle and into the apron!

Blackwood down! DPW

Both teams are getting ready to start flying as Knight is back in the ring with Drake, who fends off a charging Knight with a back elbow as he climbs to take a seat on the top rope. Once he makes it there, Knight runs in and rips Drake down with a head scissors! Drake hits hard, his impact made worse when Blackwood comes flying from another corner with a top rope stomp! Double Kevin goes for the double pin as Henry double stomps to break the pin! Double trouble! Oh my!

Both teams take a chance to reset, rolling to their corners allowing Blackwood and Henry to tag in. Exhaustion is heavy on both their faces as both men prepare to start throwing hands, pacing circles around the ring until Henry makes the first move. Neither man is pulling their punches, or kicks for that matter, you either get your hands up or you're going to get caught. Blackwood finds out the hard way as the already bandaged cut above his right eye gets busted open and starts pouring blood instantly.  This strike exchange makes me want to see Anthony Henry in Bloodsport yesterday. I don't care if he doesn't know a lick of any martial art, this shit looks so good I need him to start hitting more people for real. 

Harder! HARDER! DPW

Henry boots Blackwood out of the corner and drops him, staggering out to watch Knight take to the skies with a flying lariat attempt only to duck it at the last second. There's a tough of miscommunication again as Knight starts charging at Henry who has to shift to another side of the ring, giving Knight a quick wave of "here!" before sending him up over the top rope into the loving arms of a rebounding elbow strike by Drake. 

Back inside, The WorkHorsemen are putting the final nail in the Double Kevin double coffin. Drake spikes Knight with a spinebuster before wheelbarrowing him up into the superkick of Henry. With Drake on his back, Knight falls back onto the knees of Drake, bent up to keep Knight propped up off the canvas. Henry climbs to the top, double stomping Knight with the Widowmaker for the 3. 

A widow is about to be made. DPW

 

This match was a whole lot of fun. Initially I had this one down as a 5* affair but had to amend it to a 4* after a rewatch. I really, really liked what both teams did here but the hiccups in the middle with Blackwood and Henry took away from it for me. But don't be fooled! This match is more than worth your time. All 4 men are insanely good and The WorkHorsemen are a phenomenal tag team and both Kevin's are so, so good. Knight has amazed me both times I've seen him now and Blackwood keeps being great in every match.

Another week in the can friends! This was a fun, albeit a bit lighter, week of wrestling. I really like the Wrestling Roundup as a way to talk about more than just the matches I've watched for any given week, I think I'm gonna have fun with that. As always, any feedback, comments, or offers from Nigerian Princes looking to offload a couple billion dollars to your favourite wrestling reviewer can be sent to cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com

 

Until next week. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay alive.

Cliff Morgan